Manny Machado has finally signed. A 10 yr., $300MM deal with SD.
The Yanks weren’t going to give the years and money. Instead of putting all their eggs in that basket (and they are only going to miss Didi for 1/2 a season and have Andujar), they decided to take the money spent on one player and instead, fill multiple holes.
With that money, they replaced the lost Robertson with Ottavino, re-signed Britton, signed LeMahieu (an upgrade over Torreyes or Wade as a utility infielder), brought back Happ, traded for Paxton.
You can also say they used the $ to sign Severino to that extension.
And for SS, they only have to pay Tulo the league minimum in order to fill in for Didi until Didi is ready to return. Toronto picks up the rest. If Tulo can stay healthy and be a semblance of what he was…
Dodger legend Don Newcombe passed away at the age of 92. With Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, his Dodger teammates, Newcombe was one of the first great black players in MLB.
Newcombe won the ROY, CYA, AND MVP Awards in his career.
He pitched for the Dodgers 1949-1951, missed two full seasons due to the Korean Conflict and military service during that time, then pitched for the Dodgers 1954-1958. He also pitched for Reds 1958-1960 and the Indians 1960.
He won the ROY Award in 1949, going 17-8, 3.17, ERA+ 130. He finished 8th in MVP voting that year, and lost a classic 1-0 duel to Allie Reynolds in Game 1 of the WS that year when Tommy Henrich homered off him in the bottom of the ninth. Henrich’s HR was only the fifth Yankees’ hit in the game, and Newcombe struck out 11. Reynolds pitched a two-hit shutout.
Newcombe was a 20 game winner in 1951, but is remembered for starting the third playoff game against the Giants and for taking a 4-1 lead into the ninth. He gave up hits to three of the first four batters in the bottom of the ninth, making it 4-2, and was pulled for Ralph Branca, who gave up Bobby Thomson’s 3-run pennant-winning walk-off “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” HR.
Newcombe missed all of 1952 and 1953 due to military service. He was a bit rusty in 1954 after the two-year layoff, but then he won 20 for the 1955 WS winning Dodgers (the only Dodger team to win it all while in Brooklyn). That year marked his 4th and last All-Star appearance, and he finished 7th in MVP voting.
1956 was his best year as he won both the CYA (the first ever, and at that time awarded to only one pitcher) and MVP Awards, going 27-7, and leading the majors in wins. For the second straight year, he led in winning percentage, since he was 20-5 in 1955.
In 1957, the Dodgers’ last year in Brooklyn, Newcombe slumped from 27-7 to 11-12. He fought (and later conquered) problems with alcohol. Some of those problems developed because of his WS troubles against the Yankees (more on that in a bit). After starting 0-6 for the LA Dodgers in 1958, he was dealt to the Reds, and his combined record in 1958 was just 7-13.
He was decent, 13-8, 3.16 in 1959 for Cincy but 1960 was his last year in the majors.
His 162 game average was 16-10, 3.56, ERA+ 114. He won 149, lost 90.
He was an excellent hitter for a pitcher, hitting .271 with 15 HR and 108 RBI in his career. In 1955, he hit .359 with 7 HR and 23 RBI.
He hit over .300 in four seasons, amazing for a pitcher.
After recovering from alcoholism himself, he helped others with substance abuse.
In five WS starts, all against the Yankees, he was 0-4, 8.59.
Also passing was Jerry Casale at the age of 85, back on Feb. 9. Casale’s best season was for the 1959 Red Sox, when he went 13-8 with an ERA of 4.31. He was 17-24, 5.08 in his MLB career. He was with Boston 1958-1960, the Angels 1961 and the Tigers 1961-1962. Not a bad hitter for a pitcher, he hit .216 with 4 HR.